BEST. GIFT. EVER.

We received a lot of awesome gifts from each other and from family this Christmas. We are BLESSED. However, there was one gift that took the cake. My parents told us before they came down that they wanted to treat us to an overnight stay in a hotel while they watched Henry.

When they got here, we went onto priceline.com. We knew we wanted to stay downtown Austin, and we knew we wanted to stay in a nice hotel. So, we took our chances and bid on any 4 star hotel in the downtown area. I had my hopes set on the Omni Hotel, and we got it for 76 bucks! WE. WERE. STOKED.

on the train

My parents had set aside money for how much they thought the hotel would cost, and they gave us the balance to go out on the town. Seriously, I have the greatest parents in the world.

the view from our room

Eric and I took an afternoon Metro train into the city. We didn't want to deal with having a car, and it made things so much easier! We checked into the hotel, had the concierge make our reservations for dinner, went and scoped out our awesome room, and took off to explore.

snacks at Starbucks

I'm glad they told us ahead of time, because let's be real, we needed some time to emotionally prepare to be without Henry. Even just walking around the city (being only gone for about 3 hours), we were missing him! We had to keep reminding ourselves that he was FINE.

lovers.

Quite easily, the highlight of our trip was our dinner. We ate at Parkside Restaurant, and we dropped mad cash there. It was the best meal I've ever eaten. Eric had Farm Chicken and I had Braised Beef Cheeks. Mostly, we just enjoyed sitting across from each other and getting the chance to really talk.

We kept saying, "Happy Anniversary," because everything felt SO SPECIAL. After dinner, we got Ben and Jerry's ice cream from the lobby, went back up to the room, got into the hotel robes and cuddled up. We watched TV and laughed till we finally fell asleep. We both kept saying, "Love you, Hendo!" We missed our favorite cuddle bud, but it was nice to not be kicked in the face during the night!

yes. it was as comfortable as it looks :)

We woke up relatively early, because, mama's gotta feed the baby. We ate at the Driskill Hotel's 1886 Cafe. It was good, but no food tastes the same after our meal at Parkside. We're ruined.

ah, breakfast.

After breakfast, we got a few souvenir presents (we promised Hendo we'd bring him something and we wanted to thank my parents and my sister for watching him). Then, we went back to the room, and packed up. My parents picked us up, and we left from the hotel straight to one of our favorite cafe's in Austin. Hendo was asleep in the car, and we finally woke him up because we couldn't stand it anymore. Turns out, he didn't miss us at all. He didn't even want to sit by mom for lunch. The grandparents and Aunt Cora ruined him! :)

the fam at Magnolia Cafe!

Thank you, mom and dad! WE LOVE YOU!!!!! Anytime you want to relive the experience is FINE BY US!!!!